CHOP 6: Conformity and Obedience

Question 1

Define Conformity

Answer 1

a change in behavior OR belief due to real or imagined group pressure

acting diff bc of others, acting diff than you would have done along, changing beliefs because of others

Question 2

What are the two types of conformity

Answer 2

1. acceptance
2. Compliance (obedience is type of this)

Question 3

Define acceptance

Answer 3

conformity that involves both acting and believing in accord with social pressure

act/believe accordingly because you ACTUALLY believe so

you stop at red lights bc its safe

genuinely believe in group and what they have persuaded you.

Question 4

Define Compliance

Answer 4

involves acting/believing publicy in accord with group but you PRIVATELY disagree

behaving/believing in a way you disagree

dont believe what you are doing but do it anyway

acts of compliance either have rewards or punishments

Question 5

Define Obedience

Answer 5

type of COMPLIANCE
acting/believing in a way because you are told to do so (direct order/command)

doing something you wouldnt do otherwise, but since you are COMMANDED you do it

Question 6

What is one of the three big studies

Sherif study of Norm Formation

Answer 6

wondered if it was possible for a social norm to form in lab

people were seated in a dark room, and 15ft away a light appeared, they were asked to guess how far away the light was in inches from original point (after it moves all over the place) this study then repeats in a group setting and they went through the same thing and then each day they found their estimates became similar

Question 7

Define Suggestability

Answer 7

level of being inclined to accept/act on suggestions/influence of others

basically synonymous with mimicry

Question 8

Define Mass Hysteria

Answer 8

Suggestibility to problems that spreads through a large group of people

katie bratwurst woke up violently twitching and it started to happen to 18 other girls in her school, parents thought there was a containment at school causing it neurologist said that they experienced mass hysteria and had a conversion disorder

Question 9

What are the 3 big studies

Soloman Asch Experiment on group pressure

Answer 9

line experiement
experimenter tells you that you are apart of a perceptual judgement study
asks you to match the length of the line to 3 other lines. You are in a group and it goes smoothly until some people in the group start saying the wrong answer

results show conformity despite there being any real reason to conform, besides the increased arousal from standing out.

lacked mundane realism but had a lot of experimental realism

Question 10

MILGRAM OBEDIENCE STUDY

Answer 10

demands of authority vs demands of conscience

two men came to yale to participate in a learning/memory study
experimenter comes in and tells teacher to read a list of words and its pairs and to punish any errors with SHOCKS (with increasing levels with each wrong answer)

they pulled their roles out of a hat, teacher and learner and the volts went from 15-450

the learner is heard grunting and screaming in pain and the experimenter prompted the teacher to go on no matter what

nearly all stopped to show concern, but no body thought they would go past 300 volts BUT 56% did

Question 11

What are the 4 ways the design of Milgram Study showed that he demonstrated pyschological effects

Answer 11

1. throught the slippery slope of small requests that escalated into larger ones
2. framing shock giving as a social norm for the situation
3. the opportunity to deny responsibility
4. limited time to reflect on decision

Jerry Burger tried to replicate in 2009 BUT 70% of 2000 still obeyed so culture around obedience changed

Question 12

What were some ways that Milgrims Study was UNETHICAL?

Answer 12

• stressed the teachers against their own will (pyschological distress)
• participants were deceived about their purpose and never given chance at informed consent
• argue that the self concepts of participants were altered

Question 13

According to the milgram studies what BREEDS obedience?

Answer 13

1. The Vicitms Distance (distance and emotional distance)
2. Closeness and Legitmacy of the Authority (physically close and actual authority)
3. Institutional Authority (prestige)
4. The liberating effects of group influence (conformity can be constructive)

Question 14

What are some of the reflections on the Big three studies?

Answer 14

• the similar experiences in the asch and milgram studies - how compliance takes over moral precedence
  behavior and attitudes - external influences override internal convictions
• the power of social norms* - we realize how strong they are when trying to break them
• Use of labs - differ from real life situatios, need to be careful in generating simplicity

Question 15

What is a real life example of Sherif’s norm formation study

Answer 15

interpreting the events of a story differently after hearing it from others

Question 16

What is a real life example of Aschs study on conformity?

Answer 16

Getting a tattoo because others are doing it

doing as others do

Question 17

What is a real life example of Milgrams study on obedience?

Answer 17

Soldiers or employees follwoing questionable demands or orders by higher ups

Question 18

What are the five things that predict conformity?

Answer 18

1. Group size
2. Unanimity
3. Cohesion
4. Status (higher status = higher impact)
5. Public response (people conform more in public than private)
6. Prior Commitment (making a public commitment makes it hard to deviate from that)

Question 19

What is true about group size in terms of what predicts conformity

Answer 19

• a group of 3-5 people will produce the most conformity (true online too)
• milgram had different size groups walk on a NYC sidewalk and lookup
• the percentage of passerby to lookup increased 1-5

Question 20

What is true about unanimity in factors that predict conformity?

Answer 20

That having an ally will increase your chances of standing up for something

someone who dissents from unanimity decreases social power of group

Question 21

Define cohesive and it in terms of conformity

Answer 21

a ‘we’ feeling in a group
* the more cohesive a group is, the more power it has over its members
* opinions of people close matter the most

gino et al., 2009 - after observing someone cheat in someones own college T shirt they were more likely to cheat compared to seeing someone in another college shirt cheat

Question 22

Why?

What are the 2 main reasons we conform according to* Deutsch and Gerard 1955?*

Answer 22

1. Normative Influence
2. Informational Influence

Question 23

why we conform

Define Normative influence

Answer 23

• conformity based on desire to fulfill others expectations often to gain acceptance
• concern for social image produces normative
• high price of deviation gets us to act in ways we dont want to
• conform to this if the group is important and you have no allies

desire to be liked, avoid rejection, Asch’s Study

Question 24

why?

Define Informational Influence

Answer 24

• Conformity that occurs when people accept evidence about reality provided
• the need to know what is right
  “hey i dont rlly know but this guy seems to know!”
• privately accept others influence as a source of info
• when situation is ambiguous, in crisis or others are experts

desire to be right, Sherif’s Study

Question 25

# Who conforms? What are the 3 predictors of conformity

Answer 25

1. Personality 2. Culture 3. Social Roles

Question 26

# Who conforms In terms of personality, what kind of person is more likely to conform?

Answer 26

people who * value getting along with others * smooth social experiences * follow rules * people pleasers hey! ## Footnote contrast - people who have strong belief of their own free will and high in openness to experience (linked to creativty/social progressive thinking)

Question 27

# who conforms what is true about the predictor of conformity **culture**

Answer 27

* conformity in collectivist cultures are higher * individualistic countries value being unique * also exists in social classes (working class = similiarity vs middle = unique)

Question 28

# Who conforms? What is an important thing to remember about social roles?

Answer 28

* social roles require some degree of conformity * despite there being room for interpretation, some roles are expected to be followed * by playing a role intentionally we conform to expectations ## Footnote a student is expected to show up to class, what becomes awkward becomes genuine

Question 29

# do we ever want to be different? What are two ways we as humans want to be different?

Answer 29

1. Reactance 2. Asserting Uniqueness

Question 30

# Do we want to be different? What is Reactance?

Answer 30

we value or sense of freedom and self-efficacy reactance occurs when we feel our sense of freedom is being compromiesd ## Footnote when someone tells you not to do something you want to do it

Question 31

# Do we want to be different? What is Asserting Uniqueness?

Answer 31

Collectivist - feel uncomfortable standing out Individualistic - feel uncomfortable being similar **Overall** People feel better when they see themselves as moderately unique and act in ways that will assert their individuality

Question 32

What were the 3 things the people of the milgrim study articulated after disobeying

Answer 32

1. one should not impose one's will on another 2. one is responsible for what one does to another 3. one is ALWAYS FREE to choose to not obey demands